Federal Colonial farmhouse renovation in beautiful Vermont

Treasures – Old Book

One would think (I sure did) that the possibility of finding treasures in a house that is 229 years old would be a given. Our real estate agent told us about a rare penny coin that was minted from a copper mill nearby in the late 1700’s when Vermont was a republic and minted its own currency. If found, this penny is worth thousands of dollars. Well we still haven’t found this rare penny but what we did find means more.

Back a year ago my brother-in-law ripped down one of the ceilings. As he did, he found buried in between the old beams, a very old book dating back to 1824. The book is titled THE LAWS OF VERMONT and is signed by the son of the original homeowner – SETH MOORE. It is compilation of the following laws: Declaration of Independence; The Articles of Confederation; and The Constitution of The United States and of Vermont. We were told that a portion of the house served as a town meeting hall and I can only imagine that this book was referenced many times. Very cool piece of history!! Meanwhile the hunt for the rare penny will continue….

History

In the fall of 2013 we embarked on a joint family venture of owning a rural antique colonial in Vermont as a family get away and vacation home. After looking at only 3 other homes we all agreed that this house had the most potential and truly was a diamond in the rough.

The house has so much history and character. It is a classic Federal-style Farmhouse Colonial, built by hand with traditional post and beam construction in 1786. It once served as an inn and a tavern. A back addition was added in the early 1800's and was the community's meeting house for many years. We are only the 3rd family to own this house in over 225 years.

The house was vacant since 2006 and had not been updated in over 30 years. That did not deter us and we felt that with all of our joint effort and skills we could not pass this opportunity up.

In the months since, we have completed some major renovations and the work keeps continuing. This blog is intended as a journal of our progress and outcomes. I hope you enjoy it.